Fierce Attacks on Eve of Mideast Truce

By STEVEN ERLANGER; John Kifner contributed reporting from Beirut, Lebanon, for this article, and Sabrina Tavernise from Hasbaya, Lebanon.

Published: August 14, 2006

A cease-fire negotiated by the United Nations went into effect at 8 a.m. local time (1 a.m. Eastern time) on Monday, the 34th day of this latest Middle East conflict, with Israeli troops ordered to halt their offensive against Hezbollah and Lebanon agreeing to halt Hezbollah attacks on Israel.

Hours before the cease-fire started, both sides carried out fierce attacks, with Israel launching air strikes in eastern Lebanon and near Sidon and shelling areas around Tyre and Khiam.

On Sunday, Israel bombed Beirut suburbs where Hezbollah is based and raced to consolidate its positions in southern Lebanon, while Hezbollah fired more than 220 rockets into northern Israel and tried to send a truck bomb into the Israeli city of Metulla, the Israelis said.

First reports on Monday morning were that the cease-fire was holding, but few expected a complete halt to hostilities, with skirmishes seen as likely between Hezbollah fighters and Israeli troops in Lebanon. Israel said it would maintain its air and sea blockade on Lebanon to prevent resupply of Hezbollah before an international force arrives to monitor the borders.

On Sunday, as its army fought for position, the Israeli cabinet endorsed a Security Council resolution calling for an end to the violence through the insertion of the Lebanese Army and an expanded United Nations force into southern Lebanon.

In Lebanon, as the clock struck 8, the streets of Beirut were littered with a new leaflet dropped by Israeli warplanes saying that Hezbollah had brought the people of Lebanon to the edge of the abyss and brought only destruction, displacement and death. The leaflet warned that the Israelis could return with all necessary might.

In Sidon, a United Nations aid convoy denied permission from the Israelis to move for months was preparing to head south. The leader of Hezbollah, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, has said that Hezbollah will continue to fight Israeli troops as long as they are on Lebanese soil. Israel is committed to stopping all offensive military actions, but has pledged to respond to attacks.

Israel has also said its troops will continue to destroy Hezbollah assets and stockpiles in the areas Israel controls until they are handed over to the Lebanese Army and United Nations troops.

On Sunday, at least 22 Lebanese died, news agencies reported, as Israel bombed targets in southern Beirut, where Hezbollah and its leadership are based.

Israeli planes hit gasoline stores in Tyre, killing at least 12 people, and fierce ground fighting continued as Israel hurried to secure its foothold along the Litani River, about 15 miles north of the border. The river is the northern edge of the zone that the Lebanese Army and the United Nations troops are supposed to keep free of Hezbollah militiamen and armaments.

At least one Israeli civilian was killed by a Hezbollah rocket and dozens of others were wounded. More than 220 rockets fell on Israel, the army said, one of the highest numbers in one day, bringing to more than 4,000 the total number of rockets to strike Israel since the war began on July 12. Five Israeli soldiers were killed in fighting on Sunday, the army said. It said 4 were severely wounded, and an additional 21 less seriously hurt.

No timetable was clear for when an expanded United Nations force, known as Unifil, would be ready to deploy, nor was there a deal on which country would lead it.

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Israeli forces are expected to pull back gradually from Lebanon as the Lebanese Army and Unifil move together to take over sectors Israel now holds.

But a Lebanese cabinet meeting set for Sunday to discuss the enforcement of the United Nations Security Council resolution, including the disarmament of Hezbollah and the deployment of the Lebanese Army southward, was postponed indefinitely, apparently because of objections by Hezbollah, which has two cabinet ministers.

The dispute appeared to center on the critical issue of what would happen to Hezbollahs weapons; few in Lebanon believe it would surrender them. The postponement seemed an indication of the tensions in Lebanon over the cease-fire arrangement, which will, if carried out, deprive Hezbollah of its freedom to operate in predominantly Shiite southern Lebanon.

Israel is tense, too. Mr. Olmerts government is defending its handling of the war and the diplomacy to end it, arguing that Hezbollah has been badly damaged and that Israel has international backing to disarm it, at least in southern Lebanon.

The Israeli cabinet, after a lengthy session, voted 24 to 0 to approve the resolution, with one abstention Shaul Mofaz, the transport minister, who was defense minister and army chief of staff when Ariel Sharon was prime minister.

Mr. Mofazs abstention was an implicit criticism of his successor, Amir Peretz, the Labor Party leader, and of Mr. Olmert, and may presage a cabinet reshuffle.

Some Labor ministers, like Ophir Pines-Paz, criticized the decision to launch an expanded military offensive before a cease-fire, while Mr. Olmert insisted, Hezbollah wont continue to exist as a state within a state.